1832 -1888Writer, novelist. Born November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Louisa May Alcott was a best-selling novelist of the late 1800s, and many of her works, such as Little Women, remain popular today. She was taught by her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, until 1848, and studied informally with family friends such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Theodore Parker. Residing in Boston and Concord, Maryland, she worked as a domestic servant, a teacher, and at other jobs to help support her family from 1850 to 1862. During the Civil War, Alcott went to Washington, D.C. to serve as a nurse.
A Song from the Suds a poem
by Louisa May Alcott
A Song from the Suds
Queen of my tub, I merrily sing,
While the white foam raises high,
And sturdily wash, and rinse, and wring,
And fasten the clothes to dry;
Then out in the free fresh air they swing,
Under the sunny sky.
I wish we could wash from our hearts and our souls
The stains of the week away,
And let water and air by their magic make
Ourselves as pure as they;
Then on the earth there would be indeed
A glorious washing day!
Along the path of a useful life
Will heart's-ease ever bloom;
The busy mind has no time to think
Of sorrow, or care, or gloom;
And anxious thoughts may be swept away
As we busily wield a broom.
I am glad a task to me is given
To labor at day by day;
For it brings me health, and strength, and hope,
And I cheerfully learn to say-
"Head, you may think; heart, you may feel;
But hand, you shall work always!"
